Led by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the UK gambling market is getting ready to see a significant regulatory change to the UK gambling market come 2025 when the government’s 2023 ‘Whitepaper on High Stakes Gambling Reforms’ looms. These reforms seek to make markets safer and consumer choice more powerful by placing people in control of betting advertisements and reducing the intensity of games such as online blackjack, slots, roulette, poker, etc. These laws have been planned to be implemented in August and November 2024 and January and February 2025, emphasizing beefing up age verification processes. While UK betting industry experts raise concerns in Lisbon over the slow pace of getting ready for the changes at the SBC Summit, many think the regulations will provide long-term benefits for the UK betting industry. During this phase, the UKGC has already started piloting frictionless financial risk assessments to curtail excessive gambling with minimal consumer impact. On the consumer side, SportyTrader provides tools to help online gamblers save and extend their betting experiences responsibly.

Gentle financial risk assessments

As part of measures to identify financially vulnerable online players, the UK Gambling Commission will recognize those in bankruptcy or with a history of unpaid debts. That means checking the financial vulnerability of players who deposit more than £150 per month in betting. The checks will be carried out using publicly accessible information and will not require gambling operators to investigate personal details, including job titles, the commission said. The rollout officially began on 30 August 2024 and will be complete on 28 February 2025.

Decreasing the intensity of online gambling products

From March 17, 2025, the newly proposed regulations to diminish the entirety of online gambling products are set to change the game for this industry. The purpose of these rules is to slow down and lessen the degree (intensity) of gambling activity, ensuring fairness to the people and consumers and allowing them to understand how the game works. Autoplay, slam stops, or turbo modes that artificially speed up results or where players gain an illusion of control, as well as visual or audio celebrations of an outcome equal to or below the size of the original stake, should also be prohibited. Further, casino slot spins will have a minimum duration of a few seconds, except for peer-to-peer poker, and operators will be banned from simultaneous business on multiple products, e.g., running blackjack and roulette tables simultaneously. Another critical task for operators would be to show real-time updates on how much players spent on the net and how much time they spent gambling so that players can make better-informed decisions. It is an initiative to make the environment safer and fairer for all players.

Enhancing player choice through direct marketing

From January 17, 2025, new regulations in the gambling industry will deliver more excellent player choices by allowing for targeted direct marketing. Gambling operators who operate online should extend greater control to their customers by enabling them to opt in or out of specific product types and choose their preferred marketing channels. This initiative focuses on empowering players and ensuring marketing communications will be tailored to their preferences and sent only to players who want to be. By implementing this measure, the commission seeks to foster a more user-smart, respectful approach to gambling marketing based on customer autonomy and transparency.